Thread: Makita Belt sander thingy

The technical name for it is a slippery, silver whotsit and it provides a small amount of cushion under the belt and, I think, some insulation from the heat of the belt.
Mine, a Ryobi, (he says with much shame) came with a one page Owner's Operating Manual that doesn't mention the slippery whatsit, but the machine has one fitted. I have had to trim my whotsit at the sides because it compressed under the belt and the edges beyond the belt marked some timber I was abusing.
What brand do you have? Phone the Vic agents and see what they say.
I guess the answer to your question is, if it works OK without it, then you dont need it.

Not having a sander, I'm taking a bit of a stab, but if it "springy", I'm guessing it is also adding a final (little) bit of extra tension to the belt.

There should be some stuff between the rough thingy(sanding belt) and the flat thingy (platten). on some sanders this is a thin smooth hard metal plate with some rubber behind it.
on other machines there should be some slip cloth. This is a fabric backed graphite sheet.

My experience with my hard working Hitachi is that even if you have the metal plate arrangement an upgrade to slip cloth is well worth the trouble.

Whatever there is between the belt and the platten it will wear out. thats what its there for.

slip cloth can be purchased in a variety of widths from most serious woodworking suppliers like carbatec.

You will probably have to cut it to size & punch some holes for fixings.

It needs only to be fixed at the front edge, but rather well.

It is worth making sure that the platten is flat before proceding. Carefully file using marker dye (texta is fine) and a straight edge.

I used to curse the thing before I did the mods. After I found that the belt ran smoother & much cooler therfore lasted longer & clogged less. And most importantly seemed to dig less holes in the work.

I have noticed that some of the stationery belt disk machines are not fitted with slip cloth and run only on the steel frame. It would occur to me that they would run much better with the addition of the same.

My revilation came a few years ago after reading an article in Fine wood working on tuning belt sanders.

Belt sander & slip cloth is a happy thing.

cheers

Thanks for the help peeps,

The brand is Makita, and I went to bunnies for the kids clinic and stepped into the tool shop and dismantled their sander. The thingy is actually 2 bits (that where missing when I bought 2nd hand) a cork pad against the pattern and the slip fabric over this.

Now I'll just talk to people who sell it (bunnies will get it in for me but I prefer to see what I'm buying) .. might have to pack a picnic and head out to carba tec one of these days.